Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-03-07
The Monitor.

The Monitor.
About midnight a strange small craft came
and anchored beside the Minnesota. The
Confederates who saw her next morning said
afterwards she looked like a black plank with
Yankee cheese box ON top. The mysterious
small fiat object was John Ericssons Monitor
aud this was her trial trip, She had come
into the roads that night just in time to hear
the last Of Recommending. Her commander
was Lieut. John L. Worlen, U. S. N.
The Yankee cheese box that the Confed-
crates saw was a revolving tower or turret,
twenty feet in diameter and ten feet high
bomb proof. Inside were two 11-inch Dahl
gren cannon, which could be turned and
aimed in any direction through the portfolios
of the tower. The guns were revolved with
power from the double cylinder engine that
propelled the boat. The deck of the vessel
was nearly level with the water, and down
under this all the crew stayed except the
two who worked the guns within the turret.
The boat was sharpened at both ends, 124 feet
long, 81 feet wide, and had double hull.
The upper hull projected all over the lower
one, and protected anchor, rudder and screw
propeller The whole top wasdecked over with
heavy iron The top of the turret was of rail-
road bar iron, armored over with iron plate,
holes being left for ventilation To get at the
Monitors machinery, and damage her, a shot
would have to pass through twenty feet of
water and then strike a slanting heavy iron
plate. Thus there was nothing a shot could
touch except the fiat deck or the turret or
the low fat pilot house, which latter was as
heavily built as the turret. Thesmoke stack
also protected with heavy iron boxing, was
built telescope fashion with slides that could
be drawn within one another when the vessel
was i'll actionv
There was no way to get into her except
down ladder through the turret, one man
at a time. Such was the invincible little
demon of war that came down to meet the
Merrimac. She was built in 100 days out
and out.
The Merrimac and Monitor fight was no
exception TO the rule that the great battles
Of our war occurred on Sunday So aid the
battle Of Waterloo. and many other great
fights the world over.
Sunday, March o, about o clock in the
morning, the sloping roof of the tremendous
ram doomed up through the haze, and bore
down upon the Minnesota. With her were
her attendants of the day before, the Con-
tolerate g,inboats Patrick Henry, James
town. Raleigh, Beaufort and Teaser To-
gether they carried eleven guns. In the
battle of the day before Commodore Bu-
chanan had been severely wounded by
shot from the Congress, and in the ac-
ton of March 0, the command devolved
upon his first officer, Lieut. Catesby Jones.
The powder division on board the Congress was
IN charge of Paymaster Mexican Buchanan,
brother of the commander Of the Merrimac.
Only one thing had prevented the destruc-
ton of the Minnesota in the action of Satur-
day, and that was the fact that she was
grounded i'll water too shoal for the Mer-
rimac to come near her. Her misfortune naa
proved her salvation.
AT the approach of the Merrimac and her
tenders on Sunday morning the drums of
the Minnesota beat to quarters. Away down
under water tho crew of the little Monitor
got ready for fiat
A straute scene in naval warfare then took
place Tie gray bearded captain at Old
Point Comfort tells it as though i; happened
yesterday, The Monitor was only one-fifth
the size of the Merrhnac and Of very much
lighter draft
The Meri'imac steamed up past the Mime
sofa toward Fortress Monroe. Then she
turned and prepared to come straight at the
Minnesota.